Shapewear garment with pockets

ABSTRACT

A shapewear garment including an abdomen section and two leg sections. At least one of the two leg sections includes at least one pocket that is adapted to secure items.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to shapewear garments. More particularly,the present disclosure relates to shapewear garments including pockets.

Certain articles of clothing may provide “shaping” to a user's body.Some of these articles of clothing may be worn as outer layers ofclothing. For example, exercise clothing, such as bike shorts, yogaclothes, running attire, and dancewear all may be comprised ofstretchable materials configured to “shape” various parts of a user'sbody. Other articles of clothing that “shape” a user's body may be wornunderneath the wearer's clothing. For example, shapewear garments mayinclude shorts, undergarments, pants, long-sleeve shirts, andshort-sleeve shirts configured to be worn underneath the wearer'sclothing to define a portion of their body in a certain way.

Shapewear garments typically fit snugly against a user's body, therebystill requiring a user to carry personal items, such as a cellphone,keys, wallet, etc., in a purse, bag, pocket, or other item. Depending onwhere the user is, it may not be desirable to carry a purse or bag withthe user's personal effects.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a shapewear garment isprovided for securing at least one item. The shapewear garment includesan abdomen section and two leg sections. At least one of the two legsections includes at least one pocket. The at least one pocket isoriented downwardly to allow access from below.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a shapewear garment isprovided for securing at least one item. The shapewear garment includesan abdomen section and two leg sections. At least one of the two legsections includes at least one pocket. The at least one pocket ispositioned on a front facing side of the at least one of the two legsections and is oriented perpendicular to a vertical direction of the atleast one leg section as to allow access from a side of a leg.

Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent tothose skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of the illustrative embodiment exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects of this disclosure will become more readilyappreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a user wearing an outer layer of clothing thatconceals a shapewear garment (not shown) according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a first embodiment of shapewear garment ofFIG. 1 suitable to be covered by the outer layer of clothing;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the shapewear garment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of the shapewear garment of FIG. 2being worn by a user and including an inner pocket on a leg portion; and

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of theshapewear garment of the present disclosure being worn by a user.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views. Unless otherwise indicated, the variousfeatures and components of the drawings are proportional. Theexemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of thedisclosure, and such exemplifications are not to be construed aslimiting the scope of the disclosure in any manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principals of thedisclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated inthe drawings, which are described below. The embodiments disclosed beloware not intended to be exhaustive or limit the disclosure to the preciseform disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, theembodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the artmay utilize their teachings. It will be understood that no limitation ofthe scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. The disclosure includesany alterations and further modifications in the illustrative devicesand described methods and further applications of the principles of thedisclosure which would normally occur to one skilled in the art to whichthe disclosure relates.

Referring to FIG. 1, when wearing certain articles of clothing, a usermay wish to wear shapewear underneath the article of clothing to “shape”and define certain portions of the user's body in a particular wear. Forexample, a user 1, having an abdomen region 40 and a femoral region 42,may wear a dress 2 with an embodiment of a shapewear garment 10 of thepresent disclosure concealed thereunder (FIG. 1). Shapewear garment 10(see FIGS. 2-4) may be worn under any article of clothing, includingbody conscious clothing (e.g., a full-silhouette article of clothing),such as a dress, pants, shorts, blouse, or skirt without being seen.Further, shapewear garment 10 may be fitted and lay snugly against thebody of user 1, thereby giving subtle shaping. More particularly,shapewear garment 10 may stretch to accommodate the body of user 1,thereby stretching the fabric of shapewear garment 10 in tension to restsnugly against the body of user 1.

Additionally, as disclosed further herein, shapewear garment 10 of thepresent disclosure includes at least one pocket for storing a user'spersonal effects while wearing shapewear garment 10. The subtle tensionof the fabric of shapewear garment 10 when worn on user 1 allows theunobtrusive concealment of several personal items includingidentification, credits cards, money, keys, cell phones, etc. withinshapewear garment 10. This allows user 1 to avoid carrying a purse orbag while still being able to securely carry their necessities.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, shapewear garment 10 in accordance with thepresent disclosure is shown. Shapewear garment 10 may be comprised of anelastic polymeric material, such as an elastane synthetic fiber, apolyester-polyurethane copolymer, cotton, nylon, and other similarmaterials, for example Spandex and/or Lycra®. More particularly,shapewear garment 10 may be made of a Spandex-nylon blend,Spandex-cotton blend, Spandex-polyester blend, or Spandex-olefin blend.Further, these blends may be knit or woven to form shapewear garment 10.

Illustrative shapewear garment 10 includes an abdomen section 12 and twoleg sections 14, 16 and each may be made of a single piece of fabric ormore than one piece attached in any fashion known in the art. In oneembodiment, abdomen section 12 is integral with leg sections 14, 16 todefine a unitary article of shapewear garment 10. Alternatively, abdomensection 12 may be separate from leg sections 14, 16 and coupled theretothrough conventional methods.

Abdomen section 12 and leg sections 14, 16 are configured to extend toany length along the body of user 1. For example, leg sections 14, 16 ofshapewear garment 10 may extend only to the pelvic region of user 1(e.g., underwear), extend fully to a user's ankles, or extend along anylength of the leg therebetween (e.g., to the user's knees, calves,etc.). Additionally, abdomen section 12 may extend only to the user'ship bones, extend fully to the user's shoulders, or extend along anylength of the user's torso therebetween (e.g., to the user's breastarea, above the user's belly button, etc.). For example, in theembodiment of FIGS. 2-4, the length of leg sections 14, 16 may extend toapproximately halfway down the femoral region, or thigh region.Illustratively, leg sections 14, 16 extend halfway between the hip andthe knee within the femoral region of user 1, while abdomen section 12may extend to above the belly button of user 1. According to thepreferred embodiment of the present disclosure, garment 10 is providedin a variety of standard sizes (e.g. 00, 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.) to fitdifferent size women. Although all women are proportioned differently,standard sizes are provided to fit a prototypical women of that size.Thus, a “size 8” of garment 10 is sized to extend within femoral region42 of a prototypical “size 8” woman and up to about the belly button ofa prototypical size 8 woman. When worn by a woman who is notprototypical, garment 10 may extend above or below femoral region 42 andthe belly button of user 1 depending on the proportions of user 1.

Two leg sections 14, 16 may each include at least one pocket 18, 20.Pockets 18, 20 are oriented with a respective opening 24, 26 of eachpocket 18, 20 facing downwardly so as to allow access to the contentswithin pockets 18, 20 from below. Pockets 18, 20 include a first end 19,a second end 21 and at least one side extending between first end 19 andsecond end 21. Thus, pockets 18, 20 have a longitudinal portion 23 witha length greater than that of a transverse portion 25 of pockets 18, 20.Alternatively, the longitudinal length of transverse portion 25 may begreater than or equal to the length of longitudinal portion 23.Illustratively, longitudinal portion 23 extends generally in alongitudinal direction of user 1 and transverse portion 25 extendsgenerally perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of user 1. Asshown in FIGS. 2-3, the respective opening 24 between first end 19 andsecond end 21 may be a slit. Additionally, the slit may be positionedsuch that it is substantially perpendicular to longitudinal portion 23and substantially parallel to transverse portion 25. Pockets 18, 20 mayalso be positioned such that first end 19 of pockets 18, 20 is adjacentor proximate a lower edge 28 of shapewear garment 10. For example, asshown in FIGS. 2-4, pockets 18, 20 may be positioned approximately0.1-5.0 inches above lower edge 28 and along the inner thigh of user 1allowing access to pockets 18, 20 proximate lower edge 28. Thus, accessmay be obtained without the user having to reach up and over opening 24,26 of pocket 18, 20 or having to potentially raise the article ofclothing worn over top of garment 10. Rather, user 1 may obtain accessto pockets 18, 20 with the user's fingers pointing up (i.e. not down) orwith the user's fingers pointed sideways. Alternatively, pockets 18, 20may be positioned along any length of shapewear garment 10 and along anyposition of the user's leg to accommodate easy access to the contentswithin pockets 18, 20 while wearing shapewear garment 10. In this way,if a user's desires to access something within pockets 18, 20, the userdoes not have to reach far up his/her leg to retrieve the item.Additionally, in one embodiment, abdomen section 12 also may include apocket (not shown) with an upwardly-facing or side-facing opening toallow for access to any items therein.

At least one of pockets 18, 20 may be integrated into the inseam ofshapewear garment 10. In more detail, and still referring to theembodiments in FIGS. 2-4, at least one of pockets 18, 20 may be locatedon an inner portion of femoral region 42 (e.g., the inner thigh),providing ease-of-access. Further, at least one of pockets 18, 20 may beof a double welt design, or include a slit opening in the center. Adouble welt design is a pocket with two welts at the opening. The doublewelt pocket may look like a large button hole, and may be used with aflap, wherein the flap may be inserted between the welts or above theupper welt. This would allow user 1 to access the top of the pocket 18,20 from the bottom of an article of clothing and withdraw an item whilealso preventing items from falling out. In one embodiment, intarsiaknitting may be used to integrate pockets 18, 20 into abdomen section 12or one of leg sections 14, 16. Intarsia knitting is a form of seamlessknitting where different materials are inlaid in one another, but infact are different pieces. In certain embodiments, the front side ofpockets 18, 20 may be part of one of the two leg sections 14, 16 orabdomen section 12, and the sides of pockets 18, 20 may be knit inthrough the intarsia seamless knitting technique such that there are noseams.

Still referring to the embodiments of FIGS. 2-4, shapewear garment 10may include garter lines 22. Garter lines 22 may be designed to imitateunderwear 30, a leg garter 32, a belt 34, straps 36, or any combinationthereof, but are generally integrated into shapewear garment 10 and arenot provided separately. Additionally, garter lines 22 may be of anydesired weight or thickness. Further, garter lines 22 may bescreen-printed onto shapewear garment 10 or knitted onto shapeweargarment 10. In this way, garter lines 22 may be comprised of a polymericcoating or a fabric material such as yarn, thread, or other materialsconfigured for knitting garter lines 22 into shapewear garment 10.Shapewear garment 10 may be provided in a variety of colors, for exampleskin-tone or nude shades, and garter lines 22 may be provided in avariety of colors or designs.

An alternative embodiment of shapewear garment 10 is shown as shapeweargarment 110 in FIG. 5. Shapewear garment 110 may be comprised of anelastic polymeric material, such as an elastane synthetic fiber, apolyester-polyurethane copolymer, cotton, nylon, and other similarmaterials, for example Spandex and/or Lycra®. Shapewear garment 110includes an abdomen section 112 and two leg sections 114, 116. Abdomensection 112 and two leg sections 114, 116 may be of any length, asdisclosed above with reference to shapewear garment 10.

At least one of two leg sections 114, 116 includes at least one pocket124 located on the front facing side of at least one leg section 114,116 and at least one pocket 124 is oriented perpendicularly to thevertical direction of at least one of leg section 114, 116 such that anopening 130 of pocket 124 opens from the side. By orienting opening 130to open from the side, this allows access from a side of the user's leg.Pocket 124 may be used for holding an identification card, credit card,money, etc. Further, shapewear garment 110 may also include at least onedownward facing pocket, as described above.

In more detail, and still referring to the embodiment of FIG. 5,shapewear garment 110 may include garter lines 122. Garter lines 122 maybe designed to imitate underwear 130, a leg garter 132, a belt 134,straps 136, or any combination thereof, but are generally integratedinto shapewear garment 110 and are not provided separately. Further,garter lines 122 may be screen-printed onto shapewear garment 110 orknitted onto shapewear garment 110, as disclosed herein. Shapeweargarment 110 may be provided in a variety of colors, for exampleskin-tone or nude shades, and garter lines 122 may be provided in avariety of colors or designs.

While this disclosure has been described as having an exemplary design,the present disclosure may be further modified within the spirit andscope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended tocover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure using itsgeneral principles. Further, this application is intended to cover suchdepartures from the present disclosure as come within known or customarypractices in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

1. A shapewear garment for securing at least one item, including: anabdomen section; and two leg sections positioned below the abdomensection, at least one of the two leg sections including at least onepocket, and the at least one pocket being oriented downwardly to allowaccess from below.
 2. The shapewear garment of claim 1, wherein the twoleg sections include a lower edge and the at least one pocket isproximate the lower edge of at least one of the two leg sections.
 3. Theshapewear garment of claim 1, wherein the at least one pocket is locatedon at least one of an inner portion and an outer portion of the at leastone of the two leg sections.
 4. The shapewear garment of claim 1,wherein at least one of the two leg sections further includes at leastone additional pocket, the at least one additional pocket beingpositioned on a front facing side of the at least one of the two legsections and being oriented perpendicular to a vertical direction of theat least one leg section to allow access from the side.
 5. The shapeweargarment of claim 1, wherein the garment is made of an elastic material.6. The shapewear of claim 1, wherein the at least one pocket includes anopening about a center portion of the at least one pocket.
 7. Theshapewear of claim 1, wherein the at least one pocket is inlaid in theat least one of the two leg sections.
 8. The shapewear of claim 1,wherein the abdomen section and the two leg sections are comprised of asingle piece of fabric.
 9. The shapewear of claim 1, wherein the abdomensection is a single piece of fabric, the two leg sections are each asingle piece of fabric, and the abdomen section is coupled to an upperedge of each of the two leg sections.
 10. A shapewear garment forsecuring at least one item, including: an abdomen section; and two legsections positioned below the abdomen section, at least one of the twoleg sections including at least one pocket, the at least one pocketbeing positioned on a front facing side of the at least one of the twoleg sections and the at least one pocket being oriented perpendicular toa vertical direction of the at least one leg section to allow accessfrom a side.
 11. The shapewear of claim 10, wherein the two leg sectionsinclude a lower edge and the at least one pocket is proximate the loweredge of at least one of the two leg sections.
 12. The shapewear of claim10, wherein the at least one pocket includes an opening about a centerportion of the at least one pocket.
 13. The shapewear of claim 10,wherein the at least one pocket is inlaid in fabric of the at least oneof the two leg sections.
 14. The shapewear of claim 10, wherein theabdomen section and the two leg sections are comprised of a single pieceof fabric.
 15. The shapewear of claim 10, wherein the abdomen section isa single piece of fabric, the two leg sections are each a single pieceof fabric, and the abdomen section is coupled to a top edge of each ofthe two leg sections.
 16. A shapewear garment for securing at least oneitem, including: an abdomen section; and two leg sections positionedbelow the abdomen section, at least one of the two leg sectionsincluding at least two pockets, wherein one of the at least two pocketsis oriented downwardly to allow access from below and one of the atleast two pockets is positioned on a front facing side of the at leastone of the two leg sections and oriented perpendicular to a verticaldirection of the at least one leg section to allow access from a side,each of the at least two pockets including an opening about a centerportion of each of the at least two pockets.
 17. The shapewear of claim16, wherein the abdomen section and the two leg sections are comprisedof a single piece of fabric.